Torpedo-guard.



H. J. DE ROSA.

TORPEDO GUARD.

APPLICATION F|LED JULY 19.1911.

1,2%,968, Patented Oct. 30,1917.

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Patented Oct 30,1917

MTHESSES HJDeR A TTOR/UEYS HUMBERT J. DE ROSA, OF NE'VV YORK, N. Y.

'tronrnno-enann.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented oceso, ieiv.

Application filed July 19, 1917. Serial No. 181,508.

To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, HUMBERT J. DE ROSA,

a subject of the King of Italy, and resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Zl orpedo-Guard, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. v

This invention relates to ships and has particular reference to protection of ships hulls against danger from hostile torpedoes, submerged mines, cannon shots or other dangerous conditions.

Among the objects of the invention therefore is to provide a system of armor plates articulated together on either side of the hull and extending both above and below the water line and spaced laterally from the main hull structure.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a plan view in diagram of a. ships hull showing my improvement applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail plan view indicating more specifically the cushioning means for securing the several articulated plates to the hull.

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view indicating more particularly the manner of forming the overlapping portions of adjacent plates.

Fig. 4: is a vertical transverse section of one side of the hull with my armor plate secured thereto.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged side elevation showing a fragment of the upper part of the guard and its relation to the rail.

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are detail perspective views of corner portions of the three difiierent types of plates constituting the guard.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings I show a hull 10, how 11 and stern 12, of a boat, using any suitable or improved design and with which I am not at this time particularly concerned.

Along each side of the hull and extending forwardly and rearwardly as far as desired of the bow and stern, as well as amidships, I provide a guard indicated as a whole at 13 and comprising a plurality of plates l i ofhcavy metal and approximately rectangular or square in form connected to one another at their corners by means of plungers 15. The inner ends of the plungers extend inwardly through holes 16 formed through the side of the hull, each hole being surrounded by a. water tight packing gland 1. through which the plunger associated therewith is adapted to reciprocate to compensate for the inward impulse given to the guard from the outside against the force of a cushioning spring 18 surrounding the plunger between the guard plates and the outer surface of the hull. Along the upper edge the guard is provided with a series of shackles 19 from each of which extends a chain 20, or its equivalent, leading up to some elevated point 21 such as the upper end of a post or mast 22 suitably stayed or braced from some inner point by means of a chain 23 or its equivalent. By this means the weight of the guard is mainly supported from the overhead supports and the plungers are relieved from supporting such weight. The several plates making up the guard are calculated to be sufiiciently heavy and strong to resist the effect of an explosion of a torpedo or submerged mine without serious damage to the guard or at least to so protect the hull that the hull will not be seriously damaged by such explosion even though the guard itself might be distorted or otherwise more or less damaged. Furthermore the operation of the guard which projects above the water line is designed to protect practically all of the hull that would otherwise be exposed to external attacks from such influences as cannon shots or aerial torpedoes. lVhile the guard members arranged as indicated increase the efiective size of the hull and accordingly tend to retard somewhat the progress of the ship through the water. yet it is calculated that the reduction of the speed entailed by the use of these guards will be negligible in comparison to the safety and protection afforded by them.

I now call attention especially to the construction of the several guard plates 14. In the main they are all of the same general character and of approximately the same size, but specifically they comprise three different types distinguished from one another by the characters 14, in and M Each plate l-l has along its upper and lower edges flanges 24 both lying in the same plane parallel to the main portion of the plate but offset from said main portion by about two thicknesses of the metal. Each flange 24: moreover is longer than the main portion of the plate being provided with cars 25 at opposite ends and having holes 26 through the centers of the ears. Each plate i is practically as long as the flanges 94: or" the plates ll" and at each corner it is provided with an car 27, the ears at the upper corners projecting upwardly while those of the lower corners project downwardly all in the same plane parallel'to the main portion of the plate and offset from said portion by about the thickness or one plate. These ears are each prorided with a hole 28 register ing with the holes Each plate i l rectangular throughout except for a single flange extending along its rear end: this flange being offset from the main portion of the plate by the thickness of a plate. The ends of this flange are provided with holes and the other end of the plate is provided with corner holes 31, all of these holes registering in the assembled guard with the holes 26 and 28 of the other plates and through which the plungers 15 project, locking the several plates together with a certain degree of looseness to provide for some independent movement between the plates. In the assemblage of the plates the rearwardly projecting flange 29 of each plate 146 overlaps the front edge of the next rearward similar plate. The lower edges of the plates l l abut against the upper edges of the main portions of the plates guard I provide each plate with a central hole through which an auxiliary plunger 15 projects and associated with the hall in the same manner as above described in connection with the other plungers.

I claim:

In a guard for sh ps, a pl uralit of series of plates of heavy plane material. oneserics of plates being pro ided along their upper edges with parallel flanges each of which is longer than the main portion oi the plate providing an ear and ol'lset from said main portion of the plate at a distance equal to about two thicknesses oi the material; another series of plates being provided at their upper and lower corners with ears offset about one thickness ot' the material from the main portion of the plate,-said cars lying against the first mentioned ears, and another series oi plates each provided with a flange along one edge overlapping both sets of cars above referred to, and fastening means passing through the overlapping portions aforesaid of all sets of plates whereby the plates are all loosely articulated together, but with practically no clearance between any two of the plates.

HUMBERT J. DE

Gopiea of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, 33. f. 

